AfDB, IsDB to boost agriculture, fight drought

African Development Bank (AfDB) in a joint initiative with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) said it is set to boost agriculture value chains and enhance drought resilience in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda.

According to AfDB Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Khaled Sherif, stronger ties between both financial institutions will help ramp up agricultural production along important crop and livestock value chains, while preventing and mitigating climate change induced droughts will help achieve the objectives of ‘Say No Famine/Alliance to End Famine in Africa.’

“While the MoU is continent-wide and cross-sectoral, we jointly identified immediate synergies in the broader FEED Africa and Say No To Famine domain, which cover varying levels of short-term, medium-term and long-term interventions, to deliver even more efficiently and effectively to the benefit of communities in the three countries,” he added.

IsDB Vice President, Mansur Muhtar stated: “Indeed, there is much to gain from the collaboration between our organizations. It is here that we can utilize our respective competitive advantages best and maximize the utilization of available resources.”

For example, in Nigeria the Plateau State Potato Value Chain Support Project of the AfDB and the planned IsDB’s Agro Pastoral Development Project in Kano State, will promote higher household incomes through productive agro-pastoral activities.